Amcor downsizing in Australia, closing plants

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The rising Australian dollar and cost pressures have pushed global packaging manufacturer Amcor Ltd. to shut two manufacturing sites and to downsize another site, said Plasticsnews.

The company said market pressures mean the plants are now "unsustainable."

Amcor Australasia Managing Director Nigel Garrard made the announcement Feb. 18 while briefing investors on the company's half-year results for the six months ending Dec. 31.

Melbourne-based Amcor makes PET beverage containers, flexible packaging for the food and health-care markets, tobacco packaging, and corrugated boxes. It also has recycling operations.

Amcor is shutting down a Thomastown, Australia, plant that makes metal and plastic beverage closures. The company will divest its small metal closures operation and outsource plastic closures manufacturing to a third party, which a spokeswoman would not identify.

Amcor estimates it will cost USD7.1 million to close the Thomastown plant in mid-2013. Eighty jobs will be lost.
Amcor will downsize another facility in North Laverton, Victoria, which supplies Thomastown with decorated metal products used to manufacture metal closures. Phased downsizing will occur March through June, costing 17 jobs.
Amcor will shut a recycled cartonboard mill in Petrie, Queensland, by the end of the year, costing 220 jobs. "Due to several structural changes in the competitive environment, the mill is no longer covering its cash costs," the company said in a report to investors.

As MRC wrote earlier, Amcor sold three of its flexible packaging plants in Australasia in late 2012. The sites were acquired as part of the Aperio acquisition and focused on non-core industrial and agricultural markets.

Amcor Limited is an Australian-based multinational packaging company. It operates manufacturing plants in 42 countries. It is the world's largest manufacturer of plastic bottles.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ferrostaal has signed a Letter of Intent with the Ministry of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia on cooperation for the development of a downstream petrochemical investment project in the West Papua region of Indonesia, said Plastemart.

A petrochemical plant complex for the production of methanol, propylene and polypropylene from natural gas is due to go into production in the Teluk Bintuni Regency in 2019. Ferrostaal’s role in the project is that of project developer and investor, in addition to which it will be responsible for structuring the investments planned by the foreign and local Indonesian investment partners. German engineering firm Ferrostaal AG plans to build a petrochemical plant in West Papua at a cost of USD 900 mln (see MRC news).

According to the Letter of Intent, the allocation of the principal gas supply from local reserves as well as the allocation of building land within an industrial park planned by the Ministry of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia in Teluk Bintuni will follow within the next months.

After completion of the plant, annual output is expected to be in the region of 400,000 tons of polypropylene. The plastic as well as the by-products petrol (approx.150,000 tons) and liquefied natural gas (approx. 34,000 tons) are to be sold on the local market in order to meet the growing local demand and support growth in the country through this import substitution.

The project supports the implementation of a master plan adopted by the Republic of Indonesia (MP3EI), which provides for sustainable industrialisation in the period to 2030 in order to accelerate economic development, particularly in the east of Indonesia. Indonesia will particularly benefit from the alternative polypropylene production technology. Production will be based exclusively on local natural gas from reserves in West Papua, which have the potential to keep the plant complex supplied for at least 25 years.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) is targeting to commission its Rs 12,000-crore Phase-III expansion by September this year, provided Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) completes the project’s captive power plant in three-four months, according to Business-standard.

"We have been pushing BHEL to complete the power plant for the last six months. All other units as part of our expansion are ready. If BHEL completes its work, we would be able to commission the entire Phase-III by September," said P P Upadhya, chairman and managing director. The company is a subsidiary of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd.

As MRC wrote earlier, ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd's (OMPL) petrochemical complex coming up at Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ) at Mangalore is likely previously planned to start commercial operations in the first quarter of next financial year.

The fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and coker units are completed and partial works might begin at the coker unit by the end of this month. The company will not be able to start the polypropylene unit unless FCC, dependent on the 110-megawatt power plant, starts operations.

Through Phase III, MRPL wants to add another three million tonnes (mt) per annum capacity. MRPL is funding the project at 2:1 debt-equity ratio. The Phase-III plan would eventually increase MRPL’s capacity from 9.6 mt to 15 mt.

Meanwhile, MRPL is finding it difficult to secure insurance cover for Iranian crude oil imports, following the US sanctions on that country. MRPL is the largest importer of Iranian crude in India and the company’s insurance due date is in May. According to sources, till now, the company hasn’t found any cover from insurance companies.

If the impasse is not sorted, MRPL would be forced to stop crude import from Iran. Because of the new sanctions, countries would have to go for payment through exchange of goods or in local currency.

Though insurance companies have assured Rs 250-crore cover for shipments, reports suggest they will not be able to reinsure it in the European markets to hedge their risks. MRPL’s imports from Iran are down 39 per cent from 6.2 mt last financial year to 3.8 mt in 2012-13.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers has announced a price increase of Euro 0.10/kg on all DuPont Elvax EVA copolymer resins in the region Europe, Middle East and Africa, reported the company on its site.

This increase is effective March, 15th 2013, or as contracts allow.

As MRC informed earlier, DuPont, the US chemical giant, has reported better results than the market expected for 2012, and was optimistic for this year even though its net profit lost almost 20% to USD2.78 billion.

DuPont is an American chemical company that was founded in July, 1802. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009. DuPont manufactures a wide range of chemical products, leading extensive innovative research in this field. The company is the inventor of many unique plastics and other materials.

DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers is a world-class manufacturer of high-performance resins and films for a variety of packaging and industrial applications. Its ethylene copolymer products include DuPont Surlyn resins for packaging and industrial applications, Bynel coextrudable adhesives, Selar PA amorphous polyamide barrier resins, Nucrel acid copolymers, Elvax EVA copolymers, Elvaloy, Elvaloy AC, Entira and Fusabond modifiers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An Argentinian court order has determined the shutdown of Bahia Blanca city's refinery, property of Brazilian oil and gas giant Petrobras, said SeeNews.

The facility, located in Argentina's Buenos Aires province was closed as of 6 am on Friday for an indefinite period of time as its effluents discharge certificates are said to be overdue since 2003, while the environmental permits have expired four years ago.

Residents in the vicinity of the refinery are complaining of toxic gases inhaled on a daily basis that cause allergies, vomiting, nausea and headaches.

Petrobras Argentina, however, denies any irregularity and guarantees that its has fulfilled all environmental requirements and that the refinery's operations are in strict accordance with local regulations. The company has appealed the court's decision, Petrobras Argentina also said in a note released on Friday afternoon.

The refinery, whose name is Dr. Ricardo Elicabe, has refining capacity of 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and is reportedly currently being sold to Argentinian sector player Oil Combustible.

The unit has recently faced other problems. In 2011, it was closed for a few days due to the death of a worker killed by an explosion.

As MRC wrote earlier, Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, reported a 53% rise in fourth-quarter income following tax and financial gains, rounding off that was still its least profitable year since 2004.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in the Southern Hemisphere by market capitalization and the largest in Latin America measured by 2011 revenues.
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